And Just Like That — Everything Changed
When the balance of power shifts in the world, you expect it to be a Big Thing. Am I right? Bombs bursting in air? But turning points are often very subtle. And this one happened just now.
It’s “time to say goodbye” to the United States, said Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on a visit to China, where he and President Xi Jinping are turning the recently-frosty tide with bilateral agreements, while Washington now gets the cold shoulder.
Duterte spoke to the press in Beijing on Wednesday, on the eve of talks with Xi. There was scant information about what was to come on Thursday, but Duterte’s conference coincided with talk of unprecedented agreements being written up – particularly the granting to the Philippines the use of Scarborough Shoal territories – a disputed resource-rich area in the South China Sea.
The firebrand Duterte has been slowly edging away from Washington after coming to power in late June. A series of spats and heated remarks finally resulted in his making good on the promise to mend ties with historic rival, China.
It's all over the news, but I'm sourcing it from Russia Today, because I can and because the US froze all their foreign bank accounts yesterday. It's not often that geopolitics makes the news in the US, and this story might be gone in a few hours, too.
But that won't change history. Our next proxy war just went kaput. So much for the Pivot to Asia. Was the Philippines that important? Yes. It was key, geopolitically speaking. This pulls the rug out from under the TPP, as well.
“Your stay in my country was for your own benefit. So time to say goodbye, my friend,” Duterte said, as members of the Filipino expat community in Beijing listened in the audience. He was of course referring to the military presence enjoyed by Washington at a number of Filipino bases – something he’s been particularly vocal against since September.
“No more American interference. No more American exercises. What for?” he told the audience.
“I will not go to America anymore. I will just be insulted there,” he added, before doing something no political analyst thought a world leader would ever do once, let alone twice: calling US President Barack Obama a “son of a whore” again.
Duterte is not a hero in any sense. His world view is small. He is not an evolved man. It will be easy to smear him once they crank up the US propaganda machine, tomorrow.
He is about to become the American people's next boogyman and take up residence under their beds. In a few weeks, Americans will hate him more than they do Putin.
But Duterte knows what the people of the Philippines need and want. And he is bringing it to them in a big way. It's none of the US's business, and there is nothing that the US can do about it in any case. All of Asia is watching, and any move the US makes will be the wrong move. With the sole exception of sending its war ships home.
Even at this moment, there are protests against the US military in South Korea and Japan. Those are the other two real allies the US has in that part of the world.
Duterte has issued a series of fiery remarks warning Obama to stay out of it and stop dictating Philippines policy.
He’s been touting the economic and political benefits of a relationship with China ever since.
“What kept us from China was not our own making. I will charter a new course,” the Philippine leader said as quoted by the PhilStar.
The two countries are expected to sign over two dozen of agreements, including the above-mentioned South China Sea concession – a massive step for China, which was defiant in the face of a Hague court ruling in July, dictating that no one could be the sole claimant of the territories.
Peace on Earth. Or, at least to Asia.
Comments
Did I mention that Hillary wrote the Pivot to Asia policy?
Every geopolitical decision she has ever made has turned to shit.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
I Am Quickly Coming to the Conclusion That She's a Moron.
Like Gingrich, she is what dumb people think smart people sound like.
WTF!? I'm freaking out here. We're so fucked.
“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu
They might save us from ourselves
America won't start coming to its senses again until we stop running a worldwide empire. Right now we're an empire in mid-decline, beginning to lose the illusion of power that lets colonialists cling on in distant lands. Once our colonies start declaring their independence -- there's no more literal example of this than the Phillippines -- dominoes will start to fall everywhere.
Spheres of influence for regional and global powers are already being redrawn. Russia is reasserting its sphere of influence. China has vivid memories of millennia running East Asia, and clearly expects to return to that historic status. The Europeans are descending back into fighting amongst themselves. And a new Bolivarian spirit is beginning to appear in Latin America.
If the rest of the world tells America to GTFO and go home, what choice will we have? Reducing our military and cutting a no-longer-necessary vast Pentagon bloat might let us start paying attention to what the hell has happened to our own country. We might even withdraw from globalizing corporate-sponsored "trade" pacts, and start rebuilding our own economy. In a world of carbon-induced climate change, deglobalizing the economy makes a lot of sense.
Please help support caucus99percent!
I have the general impression
that South America will emerge as the reasonable alternative to the rapacious, imperialistic capitalism that has ruled and raked the world for the last few centuries.
Evo Morales is doing great things quietly and is small enough to not trigger too many red lights. South America is perhaps the most abused area by American capitalists, between Dole, Big Oil and others. So they - even the poor - are wise to us. Honduras was the last example of how destructive the US can be, and that effort was boosted by our own HRC.
That is the problem for the 1%. They are becoming way too obvious. The problem is, what can we possibly do?
I Have Great Hope for the Global South and the WSF. It Gives
me hope that there is a sane and sustainable future.
“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu
Honduras and Brazil...
Don't forget Brazil's even more recent bankster-sponsored coup.
the combination of stupidity and arrogance
that we see so often.
[Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Monroe, Adams2] was a real good start, but
[Nixon, Ford,( Carter), Reagan, Bush1, Clinton, Bush2, Obama,Clinton2] says much about the shape we are in.
These people are not statesmen, they are stooges. Perfect size for the job.
Smart enough to be useful.
FY: Todd and Clare has gone dark. Clinton operatives now disputing link to Premise Data on net.
I think Neera Tanden is connected to Premise Data. If so, I would bet she has the dirty hands.
We are. n/t
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Hope Duterte has a extremely good bodyguard.
Good for them!
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
Love this!
While as a black person, I am very disappointed with Obama, I am also a realist. If the shoe fits...
Yaldabaoth, Saklas I'm calling you. Samael. You're not alone. I said, you're not alone, in your darkness. You're not alone, baby. You're not alone. "Original Sinsuality" Tori Amos
Duterte's a hot head.
But he clearly sees what the people want because he's a political Outsider. He gets outraged and talks like an Outsider instead of using word salads. The PoliticalBros swoon and clutch their chests. The foreign press compares him to Donald Trump.
But this is the year of the Outsider revolution. Brexit, Sanders, Trump — and dozens of upsets around the world led by Outsiders against the corporate-captured Establishment.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
Is this what is called "realignment"?
Life is strong. I'm weak, but Life is strong.
So if this pulls the rug out from under TPP
isn't this "good" news for opponents to the TPP?
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Frankly, I thought the TPP was dead a long time ago.
Asia is a high IQ area with vast historical arcs that are continuous and wisdom-inducing.
It was always transparent and embarrassing in a way that only Hillary could bring. It amazed me how much rope the Asians played out to the US. But there is no way they would sign their sovereignty over to round eye.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
These are interesting times, indeed.
More countries might start aligning with China. How could that not happen? We've gotten a little big for our pants and countries are noticing and rejecting "the American way," because IT'S NOT WORKING for us or anyone else. Chalk it up to neoliberalism, HT to gg, the people get screwed until they scream ENOUGH!
Duterte might be less sophisticated than his contemporaries, but he's the President of his country and he's in charge. Who are we to challenge him? The coming weeks will be enriching. Everything IS changing now.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
When Britain lost their empire it was painful but in the end
they got a better way of life.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
I thought about that while
I wrote my comment last night. Thanks for adding it to the commentary - very important to remember!
edited for brain fart
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
As a Brit
I was thinking the same thing.
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
One thing that could slow countries aligning with China
is a hard economic landing for China (which...they are due for). It could certainly make countries wary of tethering their own economies more firmly to China. Of course, everything is so interconnected now that everyone could just go belly up.
To me, the fact of the matter is that
alignments are changing and will continue to change - that's how life works. It's been a long time coming for change to happen in America - to take us out of our comfort zone of shopping and not paying attention to the reality around us.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Someone once said that there are no permanent alliances, just
permanent interests.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
heh, i bet the midnight oil is burning in langley, va. ...
tonight. i wonder what it will be, a color revolution or perhaps an enraged and heavily-armed addict.
We can all look forward to
We can all look forward to another U.S. repeat of the Chavez-Zelaya-Mosaddegh-Allende-Hussein (etc., etc., etc.), travesties, this time in the the Philippines, because the more the names/locations change, the more everything fucked-up about our country's imperialistic foreign policies remains the same. And, that's worked out so well for America over the past couple of generations, hasn't it? If there's one thing Americans (and, especially the military-industrial-surveillance state) love, it's $EQUELS!
Fucked-up beyond words.
The lesser-of-two-evils mentality that's being shoved down voters' throats this presidential election cycle is simply mind-boggling in it's insistence (thanks to the media) upon focusing upon the outrage-du-jour, instead of asking basic questions about what's going to happen to our society once the Clintons are back in the White House and Chuck Schumer's (D-Wall Street) running Capitol Hill. It's like the U.S. oligarchy already knows it's hit the Daily f*cking Double! There are going to be some very, very, very lavish New Year's parties in 10 weeks, give or take; and nobody who's reading this comment will be invited.
One of the greatest travesties in U.S. history is playing out before us. And, it's just getting started...
"Freedom is something that dies unless it's used." --Hunter S. Thompson
It is clearly time for
regime change in the Philippines!
There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don't know we don't know.
How about regime change in
How about regime change in the US instead? America could have an outbreak of democracy, making 99% of the world's population extremely happy and relieved.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
thanks pluto
that needed to be said.
First Turkey wants out of NATO (signed 1955)
Now Philippines want out of its Mutual Defense Treaty with the US (signed in 1951).
Two major, six-decades long Jenga pieces of the American Empire pulled out in less than six months!
Philippines a Chinese ally? Douglas MacArthur is spinning in his grave.
The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?
Look at Phillipinos. More Asian than European. Addition thru sub
addition thru subtraction.
"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Groucho
Sane leaders (and citizens)
Sane leaders (and citizens) around the world are evidently looking at the fascist lunatics running the US government/military and their destructive planned global hostile corporate/military takeover in process and realizing that the only hope of survival for any of us is to band together against this nightmare before all countries are invaded/nuked separately...
The time to act in self defense is while all are still present to unite and speak for each other, not when it's too late.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
That's called mismanagement.
When you continue to fuck your downline (without so much as a thank you very much), your downline will look for a new upline.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
It's beginning to look like
the neocons' "New American Century" might not be so exclusively American after all. What an outlandish concept. Yah, this is important news, and it's just waiting to be properly spun.
This guy Duterte must have balls of steel. He has just painted a big target on his own back, and he doesn't seem to give a damn. For some reason or other he's known as 'Dugong"... it must mean something in Tagalog...? He is said to enjoy a 91% approval rating from his countrymen. Swift and very raw justice for crooked cops and meth-heads is getting lots of applause over there.
native
Dugong
Compensated Spokes Model for Big Poor.
Thanks,
I'd never have guessed that.
native
I didn't know-it know-it.
It happened to be on Jeopardy in the last week or two.
Compensated Spokes Model for Big Poor.
To be fair
Duterte has openly advocated extra-judicial killings and a lot of people have been killed by vigilante groups in response (>1400). We should not sanctify him. He has done some good things, however, and he is very popular. He is, indeed, saying screw you to the American Empire which is very significant.
I happen to agree.
Why pretend he is not a hard man? A harsh man? He's working for the Philippines to the best of his ability.
I have said repeatedly that the US cannot be changed from inside the United States. The only way the American people can be rescued is from outside the US, by the rest of the world. This is what that is going to look like.
If the American people want to help, they should deliver the Democratic Neocons a resounding defeat on Election Day by voting directly against against Hillary. Donald Trump is not a PoliticalBro. But the separation of powers will protect you, while you protect the world.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
My calculus
says that the most effective way to stop Hillary is to vote for Trump.
It's odious, but I'm doing it.
"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."
I think that way some days too,
but am still waffling and undecided. Stopping Hillary is a higher priority to me than voting Jill, but only because a Clinton presidency is a clear and present danger right now...and building up the Greens would be a future benefit.
Yes, me, too.
Trump may be a gamble, but Hillary is the certainty of disaster. The only unknown is which of the horribles will hit us first if she wins And he is actually to Hillary's left on many issues.
That the Republican establishment is going after him so ferociously, along with the D establishment, speaks well for him.
I don't believe this story at all, this isn't happening
After all there isn't ONE diary over at Orange State about it, so this world event must not be happening.
Talk about a vast empty wasteland that is their echo chamber ....
When I was a kid, Republicans used to red scare people, now it's the Democrats. I am getting too damn old for this crap!
empty echo chamber
Add a glowing hot filament, a grid, and a plate, and you've got yourself a vacuum tube!
Emphasis on the vacuum!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Don't slander tubes man!
The sound of Dead State is just harsh, early transistor gunk.
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
After Ed Snowden, geopolitics were forbidden.
And, really, there was nothing else to talk about that mattered.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
More than one light over there
finds themself incredulous that the US would have anything like a geostrategy. They seem to think all these things around the world just happen somehow. You get accused of conspiracy theory for just quoting published policy statements. Reality simply banished.
Orwell: Where's the omelette?
Duterte's timing smart; What gain from cursing Obama & mother?
Duterte's dash (while still in honeymoon) to maximalist positioning vs the US is very smart. It's harder to see whether cursing at Obama & Obama's mother is also smart.
The cursing seems most likely to be somewhat reflexive, the way an impoverished street-brawler would react to a billionaire whose surface politeness seems provocatively duplicitous and condescending in a context where the billionaire has a long history of involvement in putting the brawler out on the street.
But perhaps there is method to Duterte's personalizing acts. One could speculate that he hopes it will do one or more of the following:
1. shore up his image of feistiness to give cover for him making concessions to China on maritime boundary.
2. provoke the US to say "productive negotiation impossible", which could justify prioritizing negotiations with China.
3. deter CIA black ops by encouraging observers to perceive them as a response to personal insults.
4. deter US military intervention by encouraging a similar perception in any links of the US military chain of command.
5. (semi-snark) encourage Donald Trump to bring his offshore money and free-spending entourage to Manila if/when Trump's next US bankruptcy pierces the corporate veils that Trump has abused.
All of the above, plus he knows that Obama
is fairly thin-skinned as well, and wants to provoke a poorly thought out response from him. Also, the insult will get media coverage, even if the deal with China won't. Like it or not, any story will also have to spotlight that he's turning his back on the US, and why.
"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."
Duterte is showing
he is not scared of USA in a way his people understand.
On the personal level of talking to a real pendejo.
FYI: absolutely against the street killings there, but as the man said: it is not my country.
Obama's limp d!ck foreign
policy has emboldened asshats like this one to flip off the U.S. of A. It's why we occasionally need to strafe the livin' bejesus out of these foreign countries to show 'em who's who, what's what, and where the bear $h!ts in the buckwheat. – The Donald
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
"Limp dick" foreign policy?
Seriously? What, he should be sending in more boots on the ground, or maybe nuking people? I don't agree with Obama, but it's because he's following the neoliberal warmonger line.
Your term is ridiculous.
I think that was supposed to be snark
Failed snark = a Boojum.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
yeah, just channeling
The Donald.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
The quote ended with (bolding
The quote ended with (bolding mine) '... The Donald'. Trump evidently said this; the poster was just quoting (edit: or snarking with a snarky attribution.)
This is the alternative 'lesser evil' people are being encouraged to hold their noses and vote for, rather than all getting together and voting for the only Presidential candidate currently running who supports the notion of democracy and survival over the TPP corporate coup.
Never vote for evil; it's the only time you're certain to get exactly what you voted for - evil, of course!
And may the best woman win!
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
I wonder how many Americans understand what is going to
happen in the future. We make NOTHING for ourselves anymore. We get cheap steel from China. When that rug is pulled out from under us we're gonna be hurtin' for certain.
The only thing we really manufacture here anymore are cars and killing machines. We don't even make our own clothing.
I'll say it again, historian Will Durant said that the average life of any great 'empire' is about 200 years and then the rot sets in. (I paraphrased that last bit, but you get my drift I'm sure.)
EDIT: Given the disposition of the witch who is about to move into the White House, she should be giddy. She'll have many places to chose from to start a war with. She'll have to protect her corporate handlers bank accounts and losing the Far East is really going to put a crunch in their pocket books. And NATO is going to be screwed in their plans to isolate Russia since the Russians and the Chinese are besties now. This is undoubtedly giving those horrid old war whores in the Pentagon a collective stiffie. So now instead of bombing the shit out of countries who can't defend themselves, they're looking to have to face a couple of nations that can fight back.
I think we can file this under the living in 'interesting times' column as spoken of in the old Chinese proverb.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
Screw steel and clothing.
Half of my dialysis supplies are made in China or elsewhere in SE Asia, including the dialyzer itself, the bloodlines and needles, the heparin and all the ancillary supplies right down to the gauze. I've always kept a minimum of an extra month's worth of supplies on hand, increased that amount when Hanjin Shipping went bankrupt and now I'm thinking about renting a storage unit just for extra supplies (I'm only half-kidding about that storage unit.)
But try telling other home dialyzors about the situation and they look at you as though you are speaking Klingon, then they start slowly backing away.
I can't imagine that Her Royal Heinous won't be stupid enough to try and force regime change there. Now that they're aligned with China (who holds how much of our debt?) does anyone see that ending well?
I've told Andy for years that the only way the Empire could be stopped was by the rest of the world saying, "No more". Looks like it's starting.
"When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained." - Mark Twain
You know, thoughtless person that I can be and often am, I
never even thought about people like you who will REALLY be hurt in ways that will never touch the rest of us. People NEED to be made aware of what the lack of manufacturing in America can/will do to their loved ones if push come to shove and China tells us to fuck off for real. Our 'fellow Americans' will only worry about their cheap junk up until the time that the reality hits, like you just pointed out. I think about the trade imbalance all the time, but I'VE never really thought about the things that you just pointed out.
I can think of one thing that might wake up America if we have a break in trade with China. The sheeple won't like this one. And it's some not-so-cheap junk.
***
FROM AN INTERNET ARTICLE:
Where Is the iPhone Made?
Conclusion
As you can see, the answer to the question of where the iPhone is made isn't simple. It can boiled down to China, since that's where all the components are assembled and the final, working devices come from, but it's actually a complex, nuanced worldwide effort to manufacture all the parts that go into making an iPhone.
https://www.lifewire.com/where-is-the-iphone-made-1999503
END OF INTERNET ARTICLE
***
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
No worries, Amanda.
It's simply human nature to look at the things that affect the majority of people - things everyone can relate to - rather than consider the things that have never touched your life.
Another example I can give is fracking. When people think of fracking they think about drinking water, naturally. So do I. But I also have to think about, "We have no idea what chemicals are in fracking fluid. Will they dissolve my RO membrane and if so, will my dialysis system simply shut down, or will they come through all my filters and go right into my bloodstream? Either way I end up dead." It's an entirely different world I live in; I always wanted to live off-grid but now my very existence depends on a stable society, stable infrastructure and stable supply chains. It's a terrifying place to live even under normal circumstances, but never more so than now.
I think sooner rather than later people will begin seeing the true implications. Already there are saline shortages, and oncologists have had to begin rationing chemotherapy drugs for the same reason.
Drug Shortages Forcing Hard Decisions on Rationing Treatments
"When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained." - Mark Twain
That's a horrifying article.What it left me wondering about
is would or could this shortage be alleviated if Americans were allowed to order drugs from Canada or Mexico?
I, like most people, have given no thought to what it would be like to live like that. (I have had 10 strokes, 8 minis and 2 major - one on each side and I need meds to survive, but not like you. My meds are easy to get and more are being developed all the time.) And why is there no way that we can ensure that those low-profit drugs are still available? Good grief, we subsidize everything from farmers to the ethanol industry to foreign rebels, why can't we do the same for people who depend on those low-profit drugs?
Something I never considered before, the effect that poisons like fracking chemicals have on a person undergoing treatments like dialysis. Someone who was already very fragile. That was really frightening. That in itself should make fracking unacceptable.
That article should be somehow made available to people sitting out in their physicians waiting rooms, hanging out until it's their turn to suffer the public indignity of getting up on that scale. Americans need to get wise. We need to know about these things. Not only for our own good, but for our families, or friends, our communities. Thank you for the information and the article.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
We have everything here
to make steel except the profit margin. If those damn Union workers didn't want a living wage we'd still be making it here.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
...
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
The Ubers and Filthys
(rich /1% /Oligarch) saw their workers pulling in to their factory parking lots in nearly new Olds 88s, Buicks, hell, Toyota SUVs! What the hell? How much we paying our workers? Obviously too much!! Sounds like Ronald Reagan has the solution...
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
DUPE - Well, haven't done that for a whole five minutes.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
Give it a little time.
After awhile they will choke on the Red Ponzi. First their resources will go, then the economy, then the currency.
"The Philippines will become increasingly dependent on energy imports over the next 10 years as falling domestic crude oil and natural gas production prove inadequate to offset rising demand.
Significant new plays to replace Malampaya gas field does not seem likely because of the current slowdown in upstream activities and lingering tensions in prospective areas in the South China Sea."
If they become trade partners with China they'll do ok
as long as the US doesn't try to extend the Greater American Co-Prosperity Sphere.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
As usual Pluto, you educate me.
Something has to change for the sake of this country and our kids. I totally agree it can't happen from within. If "they" managed to intimidate Bernie out of the race, they would have been able to intimidate him into and out of anything they chose.
I hope we will be better off as a result of it.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Wow! Pluto.... just wow. I don't even know how to respond
to this, much less even begin to ponder the ramifications, repercussions and implications. I honestly don't know a single thing about this subject, but this sounds bad.... very very bad.
“I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell.”
― Harry Truman
Still stumbling, but I now have a new box!
Carbonite is a blessing. I have a hum from speakers not yet connected, and my entire last hard drive is being reloaded. Yay. no, Yay! Less than 2 hours from driving to BigBox store and wire fishing and making a PIN with MS and I am free-floating on a dank, cloudy day. And I did it myself.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Congrats, riverlover!
Congrats, riverlover!
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.